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i would love to start going out and picking mushrooms of all varieties as a hobby, but i'm afraid there's not too much going on in the indiana area (especially this time of year). the other thing is that i don't know anyone out here that's an experienced hunter, and i obviously don't want to get myself into any trouble.

it seems like a catch 22 to me: you need experience to identify the little guys, but to get experience you need to learn to correctly identify them. i wish someone were out here that knows there stuff. maybe i should take a road TRIP to washington over spring break and have someone show me around :)

I've also heard tales of Ps. cubensis showing up from time to time in your state during a very wet year, but now is not the time to be looking, they are gone(if they were ever there) for the year. Panaeolus subbalteatus is pretty damn easy to find in the spring and summer if you live around horse pastures. Also, there are a few active Gymnoplius species that are suppose to grow in your state.

If you want to hit up washington to pick shrooms, you should have left a week ago, spring is alright, but only a few scarce blue ringers and loose subbs here and there, nothing worth traveling over.

Experiance comes in due time. Get out there and pick every mushrooms you see, take prints, and try and ID everything you find. Before long you'll notice your able to pin point a mushrooms genus fairly easy, and even id the exact species. Read up a good bit on psilocybes, get a good mushroom guide(audobons) and you'll know when you find magic. Nothing beats good ole field experiance, get out there and learn yourself. You have any questions or need a little help, come her and we'll help the best we can.

Isn't Indiana a big morel state? So there has to be someone around to help you out. Try asking at the local Univ; if there's a local myco club, they'll probably know about it. Or do a Google search for "indiana mushrooms" or something like that and start digging thru the results for names of clubs.

In the meantime, just get a couple guidebooks (at least one with a good key) for your area and start hunting. If you run into other hunters while out, ask for help. Most people will be glad to as long as you're not asking where their favorite patch is.

Probably every area has a couple of species which are easily identified and which have no close look-alikes. These are where you start. The easiest of those around here (PNW) include morels, shaggy manes, and chantrelles. There are 'sorta' look-alikes, in the way apples 'sorta' look like oranges, but if you're paying close attention the differences should be obvious.

Finds like those will tell you how well you can key something out. It's only a starting point - not a green light to eat.

Why should he have left a week ago? Mushrooms are still in a great abundance, man. Although, we could possibly get a freeze soon and bummers start happening then! hehe.
My awesome cyan patch that I found last year has only begun to fruit within this week. Seriously, they were maybe 200-300 specimens and I only picked the mature ones(which weren't even old enough to do their wavy thing) and the total that I picked was 35. I'm letting the rest do their thing, then I'm gonna score big time! I'll try to get picks. I need to borrow my mom's digi, though, cause you know mine is a piece of shit! 640x480 with no zoom and the picture is either too bright, too dark or just plain fuzzy! :) Maybe cause I'm a shitty photographer! Hehe! :>
Enough about me! Pseudonaut, you should pick the Pan subbs come March, man! You find 'em if you look hard!
Stay cool!-Levi7.

Gymnopolis right time = now. Read everything possible on the net about these, you are sitting right in Gym territory. I found about 400 of them today, they are a little different than the big Gyms, but not different eneugh to be another Gym...so I think I just found a mutation or something, they were growing in wood chips instead of in the forest..where we normally find them, but they are gyms for sure. The smell when you open them should be an anise/woody smell....lol not anus woody, because on this board I know this will come up...hehe. The flesh should be yellow...depending on how wet they are. orange/yellow caps. More orange when they mature, orange rust spore print. And that is about it. After finding kilos of the buggers like I have, you should eventually be able to identify them from a distance, to the trained eye they have no real look alikes...good luck, check out pictures on the web Gymnopolis spectabilis